Thursday, June 29, 2017

White Folks and Drug Panic

Today, the Senate tried to sweeten the pot for moderates
skeptical about Trumpcare by adding $45
billion dollars to treat opioid addiction. Wait, what? I thought that we
were supposed to punish
our way out of a drug problem, not treat
its victims.

Well, it turns out that draconian
drug policy doesn’t apply so much to white folks. What’s the difference between our
nation’s history of ramping up drug penalties when we perceive a drug epidemic
and the Senate’s response to the opioid problem? Well, maybe, the fact that 90%
of new heroin users are
white.

Our point is not that drugs are good. Our point is that drug
panics are explicitly intended as vehicles of racial discrimination. Read Murakawa, and the articles she cites. The response to the opioid problem, a largely white
phenomenon, demonstrates the point. While

opioid use increased in White communities, rather than
arresting consumers, regulators mandated physicians to use Prescription Drug
Monitoring Programs, instituted voluntary take-back programs for unused
medication, and disseminated the opioid overdose reversal medication naloxone,
while passing Good Samaritan laws to protect those calling for emergency
assistance during an overdose from drug charges.

So, probably, the opioid problem won’t decouple drug policy
from racial politics. And probably, the reason
why is that ourbrains have more empathy for those
of the same race.
People who abuse (and sell) opioids get funds for treatment.
People who abuse (and sell) drugs that been stigmatized by association with
minority communities go to jail. We should probably mention this in our
sentencings.